You're Not Alone After All, Uchiha
by xxNotACutiexx
Summary: Uchiha Kaminari thought her younger brother died when the Uchiha Massacre happened, but when three genin show up in her village, one of them looking quite familiar, what will she do? Takes place between the chuunin exams and when Sasuke joins Orochimaru
1. New Ninja, Who Are They?

_*Flashback*_

_I walked up the road, watching the sun set. "I sure hope Onii-chan is okay," I said to myself. He was always training so hard. It almost made me feel like I was slacking off. But I couldn't help it, I got worn out easily. The sun set quickly, and before I knew it, it was dark. I reached the Uchiha district, but something felt wrong. The air was strangely eerie, and then I heard it, the screaming. I froze on the spot; it wasn't any normal screaming, say if someone snuck up on you for fun. It was a real, blood curdling scream. I forced myself to move forward, why were all the lights turned off?_

_I could hear Sasuke coming up behind me. I gasped when I saw everyone on the ground, aunty, uncle, everyone. I felt tears build up in my eyes but I blinked them away and headed for my house._

_They would be okay, Otou-san was strong, he would protect us!_

_When I got to our house everything was strangely silent, I ran for father and mother's room and opened the doors. There was the silhouette of a man standing behind them, he took out a sword and I screamed as my mother and father hit the ground. "No! Otou-san! Okaa-san"' I cried. I then looked at the murderer in fear. "Who are you?" I asked him, and he stepped into the light. I felt tears run down my face as I saw my brothers face. "No...Itachi-kun...please tell me you didn't do this!" I yelled at him. I collapsed onto my knees, weeping. I was surprised by the cold expression on his face. "Onii-san?" I asked. "You're pitiful, I should just end your life right now," he said, pulling out his sword, I screamed and ran out of the house, I felt a shuriken dig into my leg and I collapsed, examining my wound, hoping I'd still be able to walk in fear of Itachi killing me._

_I stayed there for a few moments in pain, my leg bleeding. _

_And then I heard Sasuke's screams, he screamed that he didn't want to die. "Sasuke-chan!" I wanted to shout. Then his screaming stopped. My eyes widened, I felt tears build up again. _

_No! I told myself. I mustn't cry! I have to go! I have to save myself! And even with my injured leg, I got up and ran, knowing my whole clan was dead._

_*End Of Flashback*_

"Heeyyy, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, his arms placed behind his head. "What is it Naruto?" she sighed. "How come this place is in Konoha....but has a different name?"

"I told you already, Naruto. It's because during the war, they sent off all the children so they'd be protected. But when the war was over, most of their parents had died, so they had nowhere to go, the older ones got to choose whether they wanted to go back to Konoha or not, and the younger ones where given homes here. And that's the way it's been ever since. They still send some orphans here, but very rarely," she said, sighing. "It's sort of a sad village actually.'"

"Ohhh, right," Naruto said, nodding and pretending to understand. "But that still doesn't explain why it has a different name!" he exclaimed. "Because it got so big, it sort of became its own village, but they felt they still belonged to Konoha so they stayed part of our village, while being their own," Sakura continued to explain. "Oh! Now I get it!..... Sort of," Naruto said sheepishly. "Oh, Naruto," Sakura sighed. "You're so hopeless."

Sasuke ignored the two of them, staring at the path ahead. This mission was going to be easy. All they had to do was retrieve some kind of message.

--------

I sat down on the tree that had fallen only the night before. Even though during the day the sun shone brightly, at night the winds were fierce and normally were joined by thunder and lighting.

I watched Kane and Sayomi train, Kane with his umbrella (Which would create a shower of hari when needed) and Sayomi's common kunai, twinned with the metal wire she had tied to the end, making it easier to make a critical attack in one blow.

"Hey, Kaminari?" she said, putting her hands on her knees in an attempt to get her breathe back. "Mmm?" I said, glancing at her. "Have you heard? Some shinobi from the Konoha have come to retrieve some kind of message..." she told me, walking over to me and also sitting down on the log.

I twitched as she mentioned Konoha; I had lived there, a long time ago, before the massacre.

"They're probably going to be gone by this time tomorrow, maybe sooner"' Kane chipped in.

I knew what they were trying to do. It got pretty boring in this village, and most of the missions only ever included house work. But you rarely saw Jounin anymore; they were off helping Konoha. So, since they were bored, and there would most likely be no Jounin there to stop them, they wanted to have a little fight.

"No," I told them. "This village may have a different name but we are still part of Konoha."

They groaned in union.

"Kaminari, we're bored to death with training and training and more training! And all of that training just to plant flowers in some old geezer's garden!" Sayomi exclaimed. Kane nodded in agreement. I sighed. "I know it's hard but-"

"And what if they're real bastard's that deserve a beating!" Sayomi interrupted me, hitting her fist against her palm. "Sayomi..." I said; trying to reason with her, and not doing a very good job of it. Sayomi was stubborn, and so was Kane, they wouldn't stop bothering me unless I let them go start a useless fight. Suddenly, Sayomi got onto her knees and put her hands in praying position. "Please, please, please, pleeaassseeee let us go! We won't even start a fight! We just want to check them out! Please, Kaminari?' Sayomi begged me. I gave up, there was no point. They would go without my permission anyway. I stood up and looked at them; Sayomi was looking back up at me with her classic puppy dog eyes. "Fine, but only if it's just to check them out, and I'm coming with you too," I told them. "Yatta!" Sayomi screamed. "Finally!" Kane said, grinning and standing up.


	2. It Couldn't Be True, Could it?

Sayomi, Kane and I watched the two Shinobi and the Kunoichi from a tree. "The blonde one looks dumb," Sayomi muttered. "So do you," Kane teased her, grinning. Sayomi turned to glare at him. "Want to try saying that again?" she said, her hand flinching towards her Kunai. Kane gulped. "No, Sayomi-kun," he said, smiling sheepishly. Sayomi smirked and nodded, looking back down at the three ninja. "Say, what kind of message are they receiving anyway?" she asked. Kane shrugged. "No idea. But it must be important for Shinobi to be collecting it, right?"

"Guess so," she said, brushing her blonde fringe behind her ear. The rest of her hair was tied up with bandages.

We were a strange looking team. We had no similarities at all; Sayomi with her shoulder length, light blonde hair, Kane with his scruffy red hair, and me with my long, black hair, and there was also our eyes, Sayomi's were a deep blue, Kane's were almost crimson, and mine were onyx. I wore bandages on my arms (up to my elbows) and on my legs (one up to just above my ankle and the other covering my whole leg) due to scars, Sayomi wore bandages around her waist for fashion where as Kane had none at all.

"This is boring..." Sayomi said, yawning and stretching her arms. "You're the one who suggested it," I told her, annoyed that she couldn't just be satisfied with this. "But we want to fight Kaminari-kun," Kane said, sighing. "Fine, I'll let you have your fun, just don't get too hasty," I said. There was really no point. They were too stubborn.

Kane and Sayomi snickered. "This should be fun,' Sayomi smirked. "Did you listen to a single word I just said?" I asked her. "Way to burst my bubble, Kaminari," she replied, looking irritated. Without saying anything else, the two of them jumped down, right in front of the Shinobi. "Eh?" the blonde one said, looking ignorantly at my teammates. "Who are you?" he asked. "We are Sayomi Shimizu, and Kane Katō and we are Shinobi of this village," Sayomi said, a little too proudly.

"And?" the blonde one said. Sayomi stared at him. "What do you want?" another one of them said, he had black hair and onyx eyes, similar to mine.

"We want a fight," Sayomi said, grinning. Kane nodded. "Nothing too serious, just for fun."

Sasuke shook his head. "We don't have time for that." "Uh…But-" Sayomi started to say something, but Sasuke's stare made her stop. Sasuke proceeded to walk past them. "Coward," Kane said, smirking. Sasuke stopped dead. "What did you say?"

"Coward," Kane repeated. Sasuke turned to face him, glaring at him intensely.

"Oh, he's done it now." I groaned. Pretty soon I'd have to intervene. I watched as the black haired one aimed a punch right at Kane, he dodged it by jumping out of the way, he was grinning widely, as was Sayomi.

I sighed. Those two were so troublesome.

"Don't worry, Sasuke, we'll finish these guys off in no time!" the blonde one yelled, grinning. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Several blonde boys appeared in a puff of smoke, each one of the smiling triumphantly.

Shadow clones, eh? I thought to myself. Two of them ran at Kane, the other two ran at Sayomi. Sayomi took them out straight away with her shuriken and they disappeared. Kane threw them off of him, the outcome the same. "That was some big talk for someone who couldn't even leave a scratch," Kane said, smirking. I sighed.

Kane aimed a few punches at the black haired one, and he dodged every one.

Except for the last one.

The black haired boy went flying and landed on the ground with a thud. He held himself up with his arms, shaking.

I knew how painful Kane's punches were, I had taken one before. "Sasuke-kun!" the pink-haired one screamed. I had actually forgotten she was there when they had started fighting. Kane walked over to the black-haired one and raised his fist.

"Kane.." I said, gritting my teeth, I was just about to jump down when the black haired one disappeared and Kane's fist hit the ground. The black haired one appeared behind him and kicked his back, Kane stumbled forward, but other than that it seemed to have no effect. Kane turned around, angry now. He aimed punches at the boy's face but he dodged them all as if he knew they were coming. All of them had been aimed perfectly, but he still managed to dodge them, what was going on? I couldn't see his face no matter how many times I craned my neck. The boy saw an opening and kicked him, and he went flying, just like the boy had a few moments ago. "Kane!" Sayomi screamed.

Déjà vu, I thought.

Kane was now on the ground in a heap. He was really angry now; he got up and charged at him. "That's enough!" I shouted, putting myself in-between them, my arms outstretched and facing Kane. I glared at him. And then turned to the boy to apologize, but instead all that came out was a gasp.

It wasn't the look on his face that scared me, the way he looked like he wanted to kill Kane.

It was his eyes.

He had the sharingan, but a few moments ago his eyes were onyx, and only members of the Uchiha clan could turn the Sharingan on and off at will. Come to think of it, he did look strangely familiar. I shook my head. No, my clan was dead.

"Who are you?" he asked, his Sharingan disappearing and his onyx eyes replacing them. "Their team mate," I said, gesturing to Sayomi and Kane. "Sorry about them, they get a little hasty," I told him. "Sasuke-kun! Are you alright?" the pink haired one ran towards us, a worried look on her face.

Sasuke? I thought. It couldn't be, he couldn't still be alive, and there wasn't a chance…. Was there?

He turned to her. "I'm fine, Sakura." He sounded annoyed.

And then I noticed something on the back of his jumper, the Uchiha crest. I hadn't noticed it before, but now that I was up close...

"Hey, are you alright?" a slightly familiar voice asked. I looked in the direction of the voice, it was the blonde boy. I hadn't realized that I was shaking, I stopped myself. "Sorry, yes. I'm fine, just tired," I told him. I turned back to Sasuke. "May I ask your full name?" I asked him. "Uchiha Sasuke," he said and I had to stop myself from falling. How could it be, my brother alive all this time? I had heard his screams, but then again, that didn't necessarily mean he had been dead. "Uchiha?" Sayomi asked, gaping. He frowned, not actually knowing the real reason for her being so shocked. "Yes. Come on, Naruto, Sakura, let's go, we have a message to receive," he said. They nodded and disappeared.

As soon as they were gone I collapsed onto my knees, memories flooding back.

_*Flashback*_

"_Sasuke-chan? Where are you going?" I asked, watching my younger brother put his sandals on. "Itachi said I could watch him train, you never know, maybe this time he'll teach me something!" Sasuke said, grinning. I went silent for a moment. "What's wrong, Kaminari-kun?" he asked me. I realized my silence. "Oh! Nothing, Sasuke-chan, have a good time!" I said, noticing he had his sandals on now. He looked at me for a moment. "You're going to be lonely, aren't you?" he said. I looked down. "No… I'll be fine," I said, but that wasn't really true. I hated being stuck in the house. And it wasn't like Itachi would bring me to watch him train; Itachi never paid attention to me. Sasuke was lucky that brother actually paid attention to him. "You can walk there with me," Sasuke suggested. I beamed. "Sure!" I said, happy I could put off being alone for another while. We started walking, for a moment we were silent. "Say, Sasuke-kun?" I said. "Yeah?" he looked up at me, waiting for an answer. "Have I done anything…wrong?" I asked him, looking at the ground. "No, of course not, why would you think that?" he said, obviously concerned. "Well, it's just… Itachi-kun hasn't really talked to me at all lately. Well, not just lately, for awhile now," I said, playing with my dress."Uh, I'm sure he's just busy; father's been bothering him lately so that's all it is!" he said, smiling at me. "Yeah, you're probably right Sasuke-kun," I said, smiling back. I looked back down again. "It's just…."_

"_Just what, Kaminari-kun?" Sasuke asked. "Oh, never mind." I realized that we had arrived at the training grounds. "See you later, Sasuke-chan!" I said running back home and waving back at him. He just stood there, looking a bit shocked, until he finally lifted his hand and waved, laughing. I smiled and stopped waving, concentrating on the distance._

_*End of Flashback*_

I felt tears spill over my cheeks but I wiped them away. How could it possibly be him? He died, he _died_. But no matter how many times I told myself this, it had to be him. He looked exactly like he had back then, he had the Uchiha crest, Sharingan, and his name was Uchiha Sasuke.

It was obvious it was him. But I just couldn't believe it, not yet anyway.


	3. A Mission From Konoha, What!

_A little girl with brown hair in pigtails walked across the white snow that blanketed the ground. She was shivering violently, and if you looked behind her she had left a trail of red blood in the snow. Tears were running down her face. "Okaa-san... Otouto... Onii-san..." she spoke softly and quietly. She dragged along a teddy bear that had been poorly stitched and only had one of its eyes left. She heard feet advancing on her and she shook in fear. She couldn't move any faster because of her badly injured leg. She heard the snow crunching underneath the man's feet. She felt the sole of his shoe meet her small back; she went stumbling forward, landing face-forward in the cold snow. Her shivering stopped, along with her sobbing. She was still alive, but she knew this was it. Her mother and her brothers were dead. What else was there to live for? She heard the man take out some kind of weapon. She was prepared for death, but then her instincts kicked in. "No!" she screamed and then ran forward. Shocked by her sudden determination to live, the man froze on the spot. But then he laughed a loud, crackling, spine chilling laugh. But she kept running, ignoring the extreme pain in her leg, she grabbed her teddy bear close to her. A good bit behind her, the man smirked. "Very well, little one, I'll let you live," he said to her, though she could not hear him, nor did she want to._

* * *

A few days had passed since the incident with my brother. We had a new mission, a proper mission. Apparently, the message my brothers team had been sent to receive was actually just an acceptance letter to the Hokage, telling her that they could also send Genin's and Chunin's to help if needed. And it looked like it was needed, just a few days after and we were already being sent on a mission. Sayomi and Kane were extremely happy about this, not surprisingly. "This is going to be great! A _real_ mission!" Sayomi squeaked. We were in our usual clothes, Sayomi's belly top and long skirt, of course bandages were wrapped around her waist so you didn't actually see any skin, she also had her 'forehead' protector tied to her ankle, Kane had a black tank top and burgundy trousers, his 'forehead' protector tied loosely around his neck, I was wearing a dress that stopped right above my knee and had splits at the side starting half way down my thigh with bandages there instead of shorts, my 'forehead' protector was tied on to my right wrist. The Uchiha crest was imprinted on the back of the dress, but I had it covered – like I did most days – with a waist length, short sleeved black jacket. I covered it in order not to attract attention to myself; it worked, usually, if they didn't recognize the features, if they didn't see the piercing black eyes that seemed to go on and on.

We had now arrived in Konoha. "Whoa...." was the only thing Sayomi could say. "It's so pretty here! Don't you think, Kane?"

Her head was stuck up, taking in everything. I then realized that we were walking without knowing where to go. I stopped and watched as the other two walked a few metres ahead of me until they finally noticed I wasn't with them. They turned around and looked at me. "Kaminari-kun?" Sayomi said, with a confused expression on her face. I looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "Anyone have an idea where we are going?" I said. "Oh!" Sayomi exclaimed, and then taking a look around, Kane did the same. "Uhm..... No," they said in union, hanging their heads. I sighed. "I guess we'll have to ask for directions then," I told them. "We don't have to ask for directions, Kaminari-san, we can just-"

"We're asking for directions," I cut Kane off. "Right..." he replied, annoyed but not ready to argue with me. Sayomi, Kane and I looked around. "Gah! There are too many people! I don't know who to choose!" Sayomi said, panicking. "Calm down," I told her. "We'll find a shinobi and then ask-"

"Are you in need of help?" an enthuistiactic voice came out of nowhere, making Sayomi scream and fall in shock.

I stared at her. "Idiot," was the only thing I said to her. I looked at the source of the voice, a somewhat human looking boy, black haired, bushy browed, wearing a green spandex bodysuit .

Uh, a bit," I told him. He stuck his arm out and gave me 'the thumbs up'.

"Then I, Rock Lee, am here to assist you with any problem you may have!" he told us.

Kane stared at him, a shocked and horrified look on his face. "Out of all the people we could've asked directions from, we had to pick this guy," he mumbled to himself in disbelief. 'Lee' was still standing in the same position, his white teeth chimed and I suddenly become unnerved by his... uniqueness. "We need directions to the Hokage's office?" I said. I noticed Sayomi was up again, rubbing her head and glaring at Lee, obviously annoyed about being caught off guard.

"Very well! You may follow my lead if you wish!" He said, each of his words pronounced clearly and all of his sentences filled with enthusiasm. He then started to walk determinedly to where I assumed the Hokage's office was. We watched him for a few moments, as if we were trying to figure him out, before we started moving to follow him.

He brought us nearer to the Hokage faces until we reached a huge mansion. "Wow, _this_ is impressive," Sayomi said, gazing up at the Hokage faces and the mansion. "Just go up those steps and ask one of the ninja there," Lee said, pointing up a huge flight of stairs. Sayomi and Kane gaped, their eyes bulging. "_**WHAT?!**_" Sayomi yelled. "You expect _me_ to go up _those_ steps?" Sayomi's palm hit her forehead and slid down her face. "You've _got_ to be _kidding_ me!" Kane said.

"You should not be so discouraged! We are in the Springtime of Youth after all!" Lee exclaimed, grinning. "Oh! How rude! I have forgotten to ask of your names!" he said.

"I'm Kaminari, and this is Kane and Sayomi," I said, gesturing to them as I said there names. They were still gaping up at the steps. I shook my head. How I got in a team with those two I'll never know. "It was very nice to meet you all! I hope you have a good time in, my hometown, Konoha!" he said, then he saluted us before running off.

"What was he, the tour guide or something?" I heard Kane say from behind me. I shrugged and sighed, turning my head to the direction of the steps. "Looks like we better make a move," I said, starting to walk up the steps. "Yeah," Kane said, and I heard him follow me up.

-------------

One of the ninja guards showed us to the Hokage's office. "One moment," he told us, before knocking on the door. "Come in," a female voice from the other side of the door said. The ninja opened the door. "There are some Genin's here to see you," he told the woman we could not yet see. There was silence for a moment, in which I assumed she had nodded. "Let them in," said the voice. He put his hand out, gesturing us to go inside. The first sound we heard when we entered the room was a shout, followed by "Y-you! From that village!"

A strangely familiar blonde boy pointed at Sayomi. She also let out a yell. "Why are you here?" she said, outraged and confused.

A sigh came from the front of the room. I turned my head and there was a young woman with blonde hair tied in low pony tails, a diamond shape on her forehead, and abnormally large breasts, sitting behind a desk piled high in books and reports.

"You six are going to be working as a team on this next mission," she spoke, remaining completely calm.

"_**WHAT?!**_" the two blondes screamed in unison. She glared at them and I turned around to scold Sayomi, but I noticed a raven-haired onyx-eyed boy standing beside the blonde boy, looking just as annoyed as I was. My eyes widened and a gasp escaped my lips, I instantly turned away from him. Of course, the blonde boy was on Sasuke's team, that's why he seemed familiar. I tensed, trying to stop myself from shaking. "For the mission you are going to be going to a small village a while away. There have been a series of reported attacks coming from that area on numerous people at the same time, most of them have died. The feudal lord has asked us to stop the attacks. Normally, I would just assign one team to this sort of situation but, since the number of people attacking is unknown, it is in your best interest to assign two. And it seems you know each other already so introductions don't seem to be needed," she finally finished her long speech. "Alright!" the blonde boy yelled. "A new mission!"

"Naruto, this could be extremely dangerous, you shouldn't be cheering about it!" the pink haired Kunoichi told him. _Hmm... _I thought. _Naruto? That's an interesting name._

"Oh, and one more thing," the woman who I had now assumed to be the fifth Hokage said. We all turned to look at her. "It snows a lot there, so bring some warm clothes," she told us. "Hai," we all said at once.

* * *

**A/N**: Hi! Thank you to the people who added this to their alert and reviewed, I iz very grateful.

Please review this!^^

Btw, the girl in the beginning has to do with the mission not Kaminari or any of the other characters ^.^ I was up writing this all night, so, once again, please review! Oh, and I know, my chapter names suck .


	4. Likes, Dislikes, Dreams For The Future

Kane, Sayomi and I were walking towards the main gate of Konoha, I had my arms folded over my chest with my backpack on my back, Kane was walking beside me, his hands in his pockets, he also had a backpack.

Sayomi lagged behind, the weight of her backpack bringing her down. I turned my head to look at her. "What exactly do you have in there?" I asked, Sayomi wasn't strong, but she wasn't weak either. "Just the essentials," she said. She looked like she was about to collapse. "And that would be...?" I said, frowning at her. "Uhh... Just food, extra clothes, warm clothes for when we get there, bandages, weapons, books, soap, water..." she trailed off, out of breath. I sighed and stopped, I put out my hand and Sayomi stared at it. "Give me your bag," I told her, she had a puzzled expression on her face as she handed it to me.

I winced when she gave it to me, I couldn't lift it beyond hip height. I let it fall to the ground and I kneeled down, opening the navy blue bag. "Hey, you guys are gonna be late!" I heard Kane calling over to us; he was a good few metres ahead now. "Give us a sec," I said, rummaging through Sayomi's bag. I glanced up at her; she had her hand lifted up to her face, one of her fingers barely touching her lip. There was a worried expression on her face. I sighed and continued to look through her bag; I threw maybe eight books, a bar of soap, most of her "extra clothes" and some tins of fruit onto the street. I closed the backpack and handed it back up to her. "It should be lighter now," I told her, she took the bag from me and I stood up. She swung it onto her back, but her eyes remained on the items I had thrown out of it. I started to walk towards Kane. "Are you coming?" I asked her. "You're really just going to leave all that on the street?" she said, her eyes wide, she hadn't looked away from her possessions. I let out an aggravated sigh and grabbed her wrist, pulling her along. "Come on," I said as she tried to pull her hand away. "But-" she started to say, but she was cut off when I tugged her arm harder and she came stumbling forward. "We're going to be late, I don't like being late," I hissed to her. "Fine," she said grudgingly, letting me pull her along. When we reached the main gate Kane was already there. The blonde boy – or 'Naruto' – frowned at us. "You're late," he said, folding his arms across his chest and sticking his nose in the air. "Thank you captain obvious," Sayomi snapped, I let go of her arm and stood next to Kane. I looked around; Sasuke was nowhere to be seen but the pink-haired girl was standing next to Naruto, a worried expression on her face. "W-what's wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto said. "Kakashi-sensei's late again," she said, sighing. "Hmm? Yeah, he's always late," Naruto mumbled. "Yeah, but Sasuke's late too**, **Sasuke-kun's never late"

"Yeah well, maybe Sasuke's not as great as you think."

"Shut up, Naruto, you're not perfect either."

Sayomi was staring at the both of them. "Sasuke's the moody one with the attitude, right?" Kane said. Naruto grinned, "Right!" he exclaimed, though Naruto's reaction was positive, Sakura's was the exact opposite, she glared at Kane and his eyes widened. "Jeez, why are girls so scary?" he muttered under his breath. "What was that, Kane?" Sayomi said angrily, glaring up at him. He laughed nervously, "N-nothing Sayomi-chan," he said. I closed my eyes, trying to block the fact that the Sasuke they were talking about was my little brother, and the fact that I had assumed he had died five years ago when my older brother killed off the entire clan. I frowned, trying my best to leave my mind blank.

"Good-morning everyone-" a strangely cheerful voice came from behind me, I turned around to see a man with grey messy hair, his forehead protector was slanting over his left eye, he had a mask covering his nose and mouth, so all you could really see was his right eye. "You're late!" Sakura and Naruto yelled at him. "Yeah, sorry about that, I got lost on the path of life," he said, I raised an eyebrow and Sakura and Naruto yelled "You said that the last time!" "Hmm, did I? Maybe I should get a map," he said. Sayomi frowned. "You're a terrible liar," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said to her. "Pfft," was the only noise she made, turning her head to the side. He looked around. "Have any of you seen Sasuke?"

"Sorry I'm late," I heard a familiar voice say. "I overslept."

"Yeah righ-" Sakura hit Naruto over the head to stop him from completing his sentence. "That's okay, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said, smiling at Sasuke.

I froze, I didn't want to look at him, I didn't even want to hear his voice, even if it was completely different. Because if I did look at him, if I did hear his voice, memories would rear their ugly heads, and I didn't want to think about the past, I never wanted to think about what I no longer had. I clenched my fists and then let go, letting my hands hang loosely by my side. "Okay, well. Now that we're all here, how about we get going?" Kakashi said.

* * *

We had fallen a few steps behind Team Seven, I kept my eyes on the trees as we walked, I started to wonder how Sasuke had survived, what really had happened. He was so different then he was back then, but then again, so was I. I had been the weakling of the family, I couldn't even throw a kunai knife straight, and now look at me, top of my class. That night had changed everything, our lives, our futures, our goals...

Kakashi stopped suddenly, and Sayomi bumped in to him, she stumbled back and rubbed her nose. "Oww..." she whined. "How about we set up camp in the clearing over there for the night," he suggested, pointing through the trees at where there was a patch of land where there was no grass or trees. "What? But we can keep going! I don't feel tired at all!" Naruto exclaimed, seeming quite annoyed.

"That may be, but there's going to be a rainstorm very soon, and I don't think you want to be walking around when that hits," he said, starting to head to the clearing. "What rainstorm! There's not a cloud in the sky!" Sayomi said, putting her hands on her hips. "Oh really? What's _that_ then?" He pointed to a bunch of ominously dark clouds in the distance. Sayomi gulped and started to rush to the clearing. "We'll have to set up camp quickly then won't we!" she yelled, obviously panicked by the clouds.

"R-right!" Naruto stammered, running after her. "Hey! Don't go so fast!" he yelled at her. "What are you talking about? You're just being slow!"

Kane and I sighed in unison, hanging are heads.

* * *

Once we had set up camp successfully, Kakashi had told us to sit down, and we did so. He kneeled down in front of us and his right eye gave us the impression he was smiling. "So, I'm sure Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura remember this, but I thought we'd do this again, since Team Seventeen is going to be working with us on this mission," he said, looking at us all. "What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura said. "Well, you're all going to introduce yourselves, say your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, and your dreams for the future, things like that," he explained. "Ohh, that again," Sakura said. Kakashi nodded. "Why don't you start, Naruto?"

"Right! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen! Especially Ichiraku's ramen! My hobby is eating ramen and my dream is to become Hokage one day so everyone will finally aknowledge me," he said, in a very fast, slightly hyper voice, he had his stupid grin back on his face too. I snorted but no one paid attention. "Okay.. I see nothing's changed for you, Naruto. How about you next, Sakura?" Kakashi said, looking bored. "My name is Haruno Sakura, I like... a person." She blushed and looked at Sasuke. "My hobby is still...." She trailed off again, and glanced at Sasuke again. "And my dream for the future is... to become stronger. And of course..." She blushed again. "Riiiiight," Kakashi said, he had the same bored expression on his face. "And Sasuke?"

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I still dislike like many things, and don't like anything in particular. Once again I prefer not to use the word "dream" but my ambition is to kill a certain someone and resurrect my clan," he said, we all stared at him for a moment. My eyes were wide, was he really the same little boy I knew back then? "Uhm, right, Kane, isn't it? Why don't you go next," Kakashi said.

"My name is Katō Kane. Eh, I like...uh.." He scratched the back of his head, and then glanced at Sayomi. "Training!" he said quickly. "I dislike... bossy people, waiting, people who overreact, things like that. Hmm... My hobby is probably training and my dream for the future... To have a family I guess," he said, shrugging.

My eyes widened as I realized I'd have to say my name in a few moments, and then Sasuke would know. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but I wasn't prepared.

"Okay. Uh... The blonde one, why don't you go next," he said, looking at Sayomi.

She frowned and glared at Kakashi. "My_ name_ is not "the blonde one" it's Shimizu Sayomi, I like clothes, and I dislike dirt. My hobbies are reading and my dream for the future is for me to surpass a particular person," she said, glancing at me.

"Right, and uh, you go last," he said, gesturing to me. "My name is... Kimura Kaminari," I lied. I saw Sasuke look at me as I said 'Kaminari'.

I looked at the ground. "I don't really like or dislike anything, I don't have any hobbies, and as for ambitions and dreams for the future, I have none," I said, my eyes saddening. I felt them all stare at me. "Y-you mean if you were to drop dead right now, it wouldn't matter?" I heard Sakura's voice say. "_Exactly_," I said, but I couldn't bring myself to look at them. Naruto laughed. "Don't be stupid, we all have a purpose in life," he said, putting his hands behind his head and resting it on them.

I closed my eyes for a moment. "Well, I just don't," I said, standing up at walking in to the tent. I heard Kakashi sigh. "Maybe this wasn't the best approach."

* * *

Sooooooo, what'dya think? ^^

Please leave review! Whether it's good or bad, as long as it can help me get better!(Or give me the confidence to go on xD) I also know it's been awhile, sorry about that, one of my parents had to go to hospital and I'm staying at my granddad's so yeah xD This chapters also about two hundred words longer than the last so Yay^^ They seem to be getting longer as I go on.

Anyway, please review!


	5. The Moonlit Lake

My eyes flickered open to the sound of Naruto's loud snoring. It was night time, and everyone was asleep, well, except for me. I could feel the damp grass seep through the tents floor and through the blanket I was lying on.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I looked at my fellow Genin, who were all fast asleep.

I looked at Naruto and chuckled. He was stretched out everywhere, not only was he taking up all of his own space, he was taking up half of Kane's and Sasuke's. I stopped smiling and looked at Sasuke.

He'd grown so much; I would've never guessed he was my little brother.

Did he really want to kill Itachi? That was it, right? He wanted to avenge his clan. I had never wanted to do that, to me, revenge only makes you feel more empty then you did in the first place. To me, revenge only brought pain and sorrow.

I brought my knees up to my chest and hugged them. I had never thought that maybe he'd still be alive, that Itachi hadn't killed him. That he could've gotten away. I never even asked I just pushed it to the back of my mind. He seemed so sad all the time too, is that what I looked like?

I decided I wasn't going to get to sleep this way; I stood up and walked outside. Everything seemed so much prettier at night time. The dark sky was lit up by the moon and there was an unbelievable amount of stars out.

I walked over to a lake and sat down by the side, the moon and stars looked even greater in the reflection off the water. The cool breeze blew my hair around for a moment or two and then settled down.

I had to tell him, but how? I didn't know how he'd react, what if he hated me? What if he thought I had abandoned him?

Though I wouldn't blame him, I hadn't even tried to save him, even when he screamed out. I was selfish, I ran away without thinking, and then got shipped off to some other "village". I _had_ abandoned him, it was my fault he was so alone and sad, if I had just-

I slapped my forehead, this was the whole reason I never thought about my family, I would only be filled with regret. I tried to shake the thoughts from my mind and stared out at the lake again. It was awfully silent, not even the wind made a sound, but that silence was soon shattered by the voice of a twelve year old boy.

"Hey, what are you doing out here?"

"I couldn't get to sleep, so I came out here to think," I told him. "You?"

"Me? Oh...I, uh, needed to pee," Naruto said, then laughing.

The blonde boy sat down beside me and starred up at the sky. "Wow, the stars sure are bright, aren't they?" he said in awe. I nodded "Yeah, they are."

"So," he said, turning away from the stars and grinning at me. "What were you thinking about?"

I looked down at my hands for a moment, before raising my head and looking across the lake.

"My... Family," I said, though it was hard to say. "Oh?" he said, turning his head back up to the stars. "First time away from them, is it?" he asked

I looked down to my side sadly. "Actually, no, they... died. A long time ago." I didn't know why I was telling him this; he was the stupid one of the group after all.

"Oh..." was all he said, and then there was a silence that seemed longer than it actually was.

He scratched the back of his head. "I... don't have a family either, I never knew them," he told me.

"I'm very sorry."

"Yeah... Listen, what I said earlier, about you being stupid, because everyone has a purpose...

I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I said that," he said sheepishly. For the first time I stared at him.

"Its fine-" I began to say, but he interrupted me.

"So, I wanted to rephrase my words," he told me, smiling.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Well, everyone has a purpose, a reason for living. You just probably haven't found yours yet," he said, his smile turning into a grin.

I smiled back and looked up at the stars. "Really? Is that what you think?"

He laughed. "Yup."

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens, huh?" I said, bringing my eyes away from the stars to look at Naruto again.

"Y'know, you're not half bad, for an idiot," I said, smirking.

"What?" he nearly yelled. "You think I'm an idiot?"

I chuckled. "Well, yeah."

"Ha! I can make over one hundred shadow clones!" he bragged, standing up and putting his hands on his hips.

"Oh really?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup! I can do it right now, watch!-"

"Wouldn't that wake the others up?" I asked him.

"Oh, yeah..." he said, disappointed.

I laughed. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll get another chance to show me."

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "I guess I should head back now," he told me.

I nodded and smiled at him. "You coming?" He asked me. "Later."

He nodded and started to walk back.

I turned back to the lake and stared at it. "Haven't found it yet, huh?" I said quietly to myself.

Kakashi didn't open an eye, though he'd been listening to the whole conversation. He had to stop himself from smiling. They were becoming a team, slowly, but it was still happening. Then again, the worst had still yet to come.

Hi guys!^^ Sorry it's been ages since I updated but I've been grounded for awhile and I had a little bit of writers block so yeah....

Please review.

The more reviews I get the faster the next chapter will come^^

And thank you to Blitzwings Babe for reviewing my last chapter ^^ (Awesome profile btw)


	6. Childhood Memories

_*Flashback*_

_I looked through the locks of my hair at the teacher who was looking at me; it took me a second or two to realize he was actually talking to me. "Kaminari, are you listening to me?" he asked. I stared blankly at him for a moment, the kids in the class room giggled. "Sorry, sensei," I said, hanging my head. He sighed. "How many times has this happened now? You have to start concentrating in class, Kaminari. Or I'll have to talk to your parents again," he told me. My eyes widened. "No! I'll concentrate from now on! I promise!" I begged him. The class giggled again. The worst thing sensei could do was talk to my parents about my lack of concentration in class. My father would be so disappointed in me. Since my older brother was so great, a child prodigy, in fact. When I had first joined the academy, everyone had expected so much from me, my father, my mother, sensei, and the students. But I'd never been good at living up to people's expectations. My grades were lower than average and there was nothing but bad comments from the teachers. I had let everyone down, even myself. My father didn't talk to me for weeks after and the kids made fun of me. I hadn't made any friends, I didn't talk at recess and I went straight home after school. "She's so stupid," I heard someone mutter from behind me. I turned my head to see a group of girls, they giggled when they saw me looking at them. "She heard you!" they giggled. I frowned and turned back around. What had I done? "Kaminari?" a voice said, I looked up at the voice. "Yes, sensei?" I tried to say innocently. "Are you listening?" He asked. "O-of course, sensei," I replied. '__**Damnit**__,' I thought, I hadn't been concentrating again. "Really? So, what did I just say?"_

"_Y-you said..." I felt my eyes tear up; he was going to tell my father and my mother, they were going to be so disappointed in me. "You said that..." I looked at him in desperation, hoping he'd feel sympathy for me and leave it. "I'm not going away till I get an answer," he told me. He sat on his desk and stared at me. "We'll stop the whole class until you answer."_

_I looked down at my lap. I felt tears roll down my face and drip onto my dress. "Y-you just said 'Are you listening'" I told him, as soon as the last word was out of my mouth the whole class burst into laughter. But sensei wasn't amused. "Kaminari, take a seat outside the classroom please," he said angrily. I nodded and wiped my tears, I got up from my seat, I could feel the eyes of the class on me as I walked down the aisles to the door, my head down. Some of them were still giggling, some of them were gossiping, but most of them were dead silent._

_I had been a constant trouble for sensei, and what seemed like cheeky answers to him were actually the only answers I could come up with. It had always been hard for me to concentrate in class, even when I was really trying; I just kept getting distracted by different things. I opened the door and sat on the chair beside the door._

_Time passed and the bell for recess rang, all the kids cheered happily and rushed outside. I stayed in my seat, knowing that if I moved I'd be in even more trouble. Sensei opened the door and looked at me. "Kaminari..." he sighed, closing his eye for a mere moment before opening them again. He closed the door behind him and squatted down in front of me. "What are we going to do with you, eh?" he asked. I looked down at my lap, my black hair twisted around my face, almost in a comforting way. "I don't know, sensei."_

_He sighed again. "I'm going to have to talk to your parents again, Kaminari," he told me._

_I nodded. "I know, sensei."_

_There was a sudden banging on the other classroom door that went out into the yard that made me jump. Sensei got up, "stay here," he told me. He walked into the class room and towards the door. I heard him open it, I continued to stare at my lap. Then I heard a small voice, "Why can't Kaminari come out? Is she in trouble again?" I got up from my seat immediately. Sensei began to say a sentence but I interrupted something. "Its okay, Sasuke, I'll be out in a second, don't worry about me," I said, smiling at him. He just stared at me, looking ever so slightly annoyed, he knew what was happening, he was just frustrated that I wouldn't tell him. "Okay," he said grudgingly, taking a step back so sensei closed the door._

_As soon as sensei did close the door he looked over at me and smiled. "You're very mature with your brother," he said. I looked at him. "Of course I am. I have to. He's my little brother, he's all I have," I told him. "What about your parents? And Itachi?" "My mother is lovely, but my father has to be a strong man, he's the head of the clan, a father and a husband, so he has to be tough on us, he can't show us care or we'll think it's okay to slack off. Itachi is always training and when he does have the time to do something with me, Sasuke normally tries to grab his attention, he's a good brother though, he's nice and kind. But like father he has to be strong, he is a child prodigy, after all."_

_Sensei stared at me, I didn't know if that was a good thing or not._

"_And, I'd also like to apologize for my lack of concentration in class, I realize it must frustrate you a lot, my father will be very disappointed in me, as he should be," I continued. "Because I should be better than that, my father is head of the clan and my ane is a child prodigy, I should be better," I felt my eyes tear up. "I should be better than I am... but..." I started weeping, I was embarrassed, but I couldn't help it. "But you're not, right?" sensei said. I nodded miserably, still crying. I put my face in my hands, trying to hide my tears._

_I heard footsteps and eventually felt a hand on my shoulder; I looked up to see my sensei smiling sadly. "You don't need to think like that, Kaminari. And there are no "I should be"'s in life, you are only what you are, and you can't do any better than that, you don't need to do any better than that. You just need to do your best, and the reason I speak to your parents isn't to punish you-"_

_I interrupted him. "It's not?" I asked. He laughed. "No, it's to help __**you**__," he said, poking me gently in the chest as he said 'you'. "It's so that your parents know the problem, and can maybe come up with some way to help fix it. But do you know what the real problem is?"_

_I shook my head. He smiled at me. "We never bother to ask the students. So, Uchiha Kaminari, __**why**__ do you have a lack of concentration in class?"_

_I looked at him, and then looked down at the side; I had stopped crying soon after he had started speaking. "I find it hard, I get distracted, by thoughts, and things outside," I told him._

"_And the kids in the class don't treat you very well, do they?" he asked. I shook my head, wiping the remaining tears off of my cheeks. _

"_And right now you should be outside enjoying the sunshine, go on, join your brother," he told me._

_*End Of Flashback*_

I felt something hard nudging my side and I groaned, whacking it away. "Well, I give up," I heard a voice mumble, and the sound of footsteps against soft ground making their way away from me. "Oh c'mon, you barely tried," a male voice said, a very drowsy sounding male voice. "If you think it's so easy, you try!" the female voice replied. "Are you kidding me? You know what she's capable of when she's awake, who knows what she's capable of when she's asleep!" the male voice exclaimed. The female voice sighed. "Oh please, she hasn't even awakened that sharingana thingy yet," she said. "I think it was called sharingale...not sharingana. And there's a chance she'll never awaken that," he said. "But that's the Uchiha's specialty, right?" the girl asked, curious. "Well, yes. But I've never heard of a female possessing it though, and it was quiet rare in the clan for anyone not directly descended from the clan leaders to have sharingale...gana...thing! towards the end of their...clan? Ugh, I don't know. I'm tired."

"Hey... Don't you think it was weird the way Kaminari lied about her name?" the girl voice asked, that I was now awaken enough to identify as Sayomi. "Yeah, but isn't that moody dude related to her? I mean, with his name, the crest on his back, his sharin...thing... So maybe she's hiding it from him?" The male voice – Kane – said. "Ohh... riiiiight. Now I get it. But why would she hide it from him? I mean, isn't he like, her last living relative?" Sayomi asked him, now confused. There was a sound of moving material, which I assumed was the sound of Kane shrugging. "How am I supposed to know? And he's not exactly her _last_ living relative anyway."

"What do you mean?" Sayomi asked. "She has her older brother," Kane told her. "Then why doesn't she live with him?" Kane snorted. "Because he killed off all of their relatives."

"That was _him_?" Sayomi asked, obviously shocked. "Yup."

"So he must've been a pretty rotten older brother then, huh?" Sayomi said, I could practically hear her frown. "Dunno, you'd have to ask Kaminari... Which I don't approve of, by the way."

**A/N: **Cliff hanger type thing! xD

Please review! So I can make the story awesome! ^^ I'll give you cookies...and a cupcake. Let me know what you think of the chapter!^^


End file.
